U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson files Obamacare suit, dismisses critics

Jan. 6, 2014

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson / Lukas Keapproth/Press-Gazette Media

Written by

Donovan Slack

Gannett Wisconsin Media Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson made good Monday on his promise to mount a legal challenge to Obamacare subsidies for Congress.

The Oshkosh Republican filed suit in U.S. District Court in Green Bay, accusing the Obama administration of providing special — and illegal — treatment to members of Congress and their staff by giving them money to help pay for health insurance.

Only Americans who make less than about $45,000 per year qualify for federal subsidies to help pay for insurance they buy on Obamacare exchanges. But members of Congress, who make $175,000 annually, and their staff are entitled to a federal subsidy to cover an average of 72 percent of the cost of insurance that they buy on an exchange.

“That’s completely unfair, completely unjust,” Johnson said during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Monday, where he was flanked by his lawyers in the case, Paul Clement, a former solicitor general under George W. Bush, and Rick Esenberg, founder and president of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

Not all of his GOP colleagues are supportive. A fellow Wisconsin Republican, Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Menomonee Falls, ripped Johnson’s suit as an “unfortunate political stunt.”

“Senator Johnson should spend his time legislating rather than litigating as our country is facing big problems that must be addressed by Congress — not the courts,” Sensenbrenner said in a statement. “All Republicans want to repeal Obamacare, but this politically motivated lawsuit only takes public attention away from how bad all of Obamacare really is and focuses it on a trivial issue. Fortunately, Senator Johnson’s suit is likely frivolous and will not achieve the result he’s seeking.”

Johnson said Monday he was “disappointed” and “a little confused” by Sensenbrenner’s reaction, but is moving forward regardless. He said the case is not trivial, but about reining in what he calls presidential overreach.

“This is, I think, a very important constitutional question,” said Johnson, who is funding the suit through his campaign committee.

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Under the health care law, members of Congress and their staff were kicked out of their federal employee health care plan, leaving them to buy insurance on an Obamacare exchange. The law didn’t specify whether they would receive an employer contribution.

But the federal Office of Personnel Management, which is responsible for creating rules to implement the law, issued a ruling last September saying that the government would, in fact, provide the contribution at the same rate as if members and their staff were still on the federal employee health plan. OPM officials said at the time that it was within their “interpretive authority” to decide how to administer health benefits — including providing subsidies — for members and staff because they are federal employees.

Johnson alleges in the complaint filed Monday that the rule places an administrative burden on members of Congress because they must designate which members of their staff are subject to the change. In addition, the complaint argues that the ruling is forcing Johnson to participate in something that he believes is illegal.

Democrats have blocked attempts to rescind the subsidies, and some members on both sides of the aisle have said cutting them would be like slashing staff salaries because they would have to pay more for insurance. Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin pilloried Republicans after they tried to rescind the subsidies as part of a deal to reopen the federal government last fall.

"That's pathetic," Durbin said at the time. "I believe employer-sponsored health insurance is a good thing, that we ought to protect."